By Nsikak Ekpenyong
The Bassa Cultural & Development Union (BCDU) of Nasarawa State has vehemently denies allegations of having militia or vigilante groups in Toto LGA.
Addressing newsmen yesterday in Abuja, the vice chairman of the BCDU, Mr. Mark Jere, said this call becomes necessary owing to the fact that all efforts to press for their home return through the Nasarawa State government failed.
The community further called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene as they have been in forced exile for six years.
Jere expressed dismay at the Nasarawa State Government’s recent mention of a Bassa militia during a security meeting, stating that no such group exists.
The community clarified that recent clashes were reprisal attacks and emphasized their lack of vigilante groups.
He said they wish to state in clear terms that the Bassa community has nothing known as “Bassa Militia or Bassa vigilante group,” anywhere in the state or outside the state.
He, however, said they vehemently perceived that the governor was misinformed by some of his handlers in his move towards a peaceful approach to resolve the conflict between the Egburas and Bassas.
Jere stressed that to put things in perspective, a wave of attacks was recently launched by yet-to-be-identified individuals on Katakpa and Shegye village areas.
He said a situation which propelled the Nasarawa State government to promulgate the said executive order in which it called for the disbandment and disarmament of certain tribal vigilante groups in the State, including the Bassas.
“We, therefore, want to reiterate in unambiguous terms that the Bassa community of Toto LGA does not have any known and existing vigilante groups,” he said.
He stated that it was the Angbara village attack by the Egbura hoodlums that snowballed into the present clashes in Katakpa and Shegye Villages.
He stressed that the government should ensure immediate home return of the displaced Bassa people and other displaced persons; a step already taken by the government.
He said the government should ensure the rebuilding of the destroyed Bassa homes in both Toto and Nasarawa LGAs.
He said the government should ensure adequate compensation and release of relief materials to the displaced and affected Bassa people.
Jere stressed that the government should prevail on the Egbura community to henceforth desist from the purported installations of Egbura Kinsmen as village heads in the already officially existing Bassa-owned village areas of Katakpa, Shegye, Kanyehu, and Uttu.
He, however, said the government should disband the so-called vigilante in Toto LGA and allow for the inclusion of the Bassa people the moment they fully return home.
He emphasized that the Government of A.A Sule should, as a matter of urgency and inclusivity, give meaningful political appointments to Bassa people so that they will not continue to see his government as an extension of the Egbura hegemony over the Bassa.
He said the State government should ensure that the implicit embargo on the employment of Bassa people at both the LGA workforce and at the State be lifted.
Jere stressed that the Nasarawa State government should revisit the penal code (proscription of Kungiyar Zaman Lafiya nomad vigilante, Bassa vigilante, Eggon vigilante, and other similar organizations) Executive Order No.1 2024, which came into force on 15th April 2024, to exclude the purported Bassa Vigilante owing to the fact that there is no such vigilante group.
He furthermore stated that the Bassa who are in exile could not have formed a vigilante group in Nasarawa State.
“We are calling on the Refugee Commissions, NGOs, and the International community to come to our help now and even when we eventually return to our native homeland in the nearest future to enable us to start rebuilding our lives afresh,” he said.
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